Bill will allow accreditation of agency to facilitate inter-country adoptions

A NEW adoption agency to facilitate inter-country adoptions for Irish people is scheduled to launch in September.

The new agency is to be called Arc, and will be headed up by Shane Downer, the former chief executive of the International Adoption Association (IAA).

Arc has received provisional approval from the Adoption Board to operate as an accredited agency. It will be a paid-for service but is also understood to be seeking some state funding.